A power conditioner that can convert electric power from AC power to DC power and from DC power to AC power may be used as a charging apparatus for charging a storage battery (a driving battery) that stores electric power to be supplied to an electric motor in an electric vehicle. The power conditioner converts AC power that is supplied from an electrical grid power supply of a commercial system or the like to DC power when charging the driving battery and converts the DC power discharged by the driving battery to AC power when electric power stored in the driving battery is used by an appliance or the like in a house.
When a driving battery mounted in an electric vehicle is charged, a charging apparatus such as a power conditioner communicates with the electric vehicle in some cases, and this communication is performed in accordance with a charging protocol. Existing charging protocols are based on multiple schemes including CHAdeMO scheme (CHAdeMO protocol) used mainly in Japan and SAE J1772 scheme (hereinafter referred to as COMBO protocol) used in the United States and Europe.
A system that can charge different types of electric vehicles using different charging protocols is disclosed in Patent Literature 1. A charging unit included in a quick charging system for an electric vehicle described in Patent Literature 1 includes a cable that supports the CHAdeMO protocol and a cable that supports the COMBO protocol. When subjecting an electric vehicle to charging using the quick charging system, a user connects a cable of the protocol supported by the electric vehicle to be subjected to the charging to the electric vehicle and operates a selection switch provided in the charging unit to select a charging protocol to be used.